750G.00/11–1653
No. 146
The Assistant Secretary of State
for European Affairs (Merchant) to the Assistant
Secretary of Defense (Nash)1
Dear Frank: On October 29 Secretary Wilson telephoned to Mr. Dulles2 with regard to 350 servicemen stationed in Trieste whose families have already been evacuated to Leghorn where we understand they are presently put up in hotels. Mr. Wilson asked whether we would object to transferring these men from Trieste at once, some of them to Germany, some to the United States. Before we could comment on this the Trieste riots3 intervened and we felt it best to delay for a bit to see how matters developed.
The situation in Trieste now seems to have quieted down and since only 350 men would be involved we see no objection to the course Secretary Wilson proposes. We know of no agreement with the British which would prevent such action. They have themselves [Page 339] in the course of the last few years gradually reduced their forces from almost 5,000 to about 3,000. Since the position of the Zone Commander would be most immediately effected, we would assume that his opinion should be of the utmost importance.
We strongly urge that if these men are withdrawn the withdrawal be accomplished in the quietest way possible, and that all precautions which can practicably be taken to avoid publicity such as shipping them by rail and in the smallest possible groups be observed.
Since any more extensive reduction of our forces in Trieste would probably have serious political repercussions in the present extremely delicate Trieste situation we would not be in favor of plans to remove any additional men at this time.
Sincerely yours,
-
Drafted by William E. Knight and cleared by Bonbright, Byington, and Barbour.
In a memorandum of Nov. 13 to Merchant, Secretary Dulles wrote that Secretary of Defense Wilson, at the meeting of the National Security Council the previous day, had handed him a note regarding troop withdrawals from Trieste. Wilson’s handwritten, undated note, attached to Dulles’ memorandum, reads, “Foster what about letting the no. of our troops in Trieste gradually reduce by attrition as their terms of service expire.” Dulles said that he had told Wilson offhand that he saw no reason why the 350–500 troops then under orders to return, and whose dependents had already been shipped, should not be allowed to leave without replacement. (750G.0221/11–1353)
↩ - A memorandum of this conversation is in the Eisenhower Library, Dulles papers, “Telephone Conversations”.↩
- Civil disturbances erupted in Trieste Nov. 4–6 in the wake of the celebration on Nov. 3 of the feast day of San Giusto, the patron saint of Trieste, and of the observance of the 35th anniversary of the evacuation of the city by Italian troops following World War I. British and American troops were used to restore order on Nov. 6. General Winterton’s lengthy report on the riots was contained in telegram Taf 251 to the Department of the Army for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Dec. 4. (Italian Desk files, lot 58 D 357, “December 1953”)↩